The Art of Seduction
by Basil-Ovelby
Summary: Junior attempts to seduce a very dense Strip Weathers.
1. Chapter 1

Written because I think they're the cutest couple ever. I mean, look at them! 3 Oh, and they're all humans in this fic, 'cuz I thought it would be fun. If you want a bunch of pictures of what I think they look like as humans, just go to my deviantART site (I have the same name and everything). Takes place a little while after the big race but before most of the short scenes at the end of the movie.

Disclaimer: Cars and all its characters belong to Pixar and Disney… not me. Sigh… ;;

The Art of Seduction

By Basil-Ovelby

Chapter 1

_The Art of Seduction, by Karl E. Lovebug_

Junior stopped when he saw the book on the shelf, sandwiched between two books on clay pottery. Piqued, he grabbed it and flipped it open.

_Is there someone in your life that makes your heart flutter? Someone that you can't keep your eyes off of, but who doesn't think of you as more than a friend?_

Extremely piqued, he kept reading.

_Well, today, you can change of all that. Following this patent-pending step-by-step method, anyone can be yours! It's all too easy to learn the art of seduction._

Junior's eyes opened very large and he quickly closed the book. He glanced around nervously and clutched the book to his chest.

"_This is… this is… too _perfect!_"_

For it just so happened that tomorrow he was heading out to a little town called Radiator Springs with a certain southern race-car driver that coincidently _did _cause his heart to flutter.

He felt a grin spread across his face as he idly rapped the book with his fingers. He stood up and headed for the check-out counter.

---------------------------------------

_Chapter 1: Buttering Them Up_

_One of the first things you have to consider before you start seducing your certain someone is what kind of relationship you have with them already. Are you friends? Confidantes? Acquaintances? Your present relationship will give you an idea of how long you will need to spend on each step in your seduction._

_The first thing that you need to do is start to develop feelings in your true love's heart. You do this by being the perfect person, or as close to one as you can get. You must be charming, gallant, and friendly. Find the perfect times to give them well-placed compliments. Offer to help them whenever they need it. Overall, butter them up as much as you can _without overdoing it. _Fill them with nothing but good thoughts of you. The point is to start slowly and steadily work it up…_

"Temperature back there alright, Junior?"

"Yeah, it's fine." It was actually just a little bit warmer than he would have liked, but he would never say that.

"I'm so excited to see this town! Lightning's said so much about it!" Lynda Weathers sat beside her husband up front.

Junior grinned. He was excited also, though not about the town. He patted his bag next to him and was pleased to feel the outline of his new book through the canvas.

"_Compliments, compliments, compliments… I've gotta think of some good, well-placed compliments."_

He glanced around him to get ideas, prodding the seat of the car beneath him. His eyes followed his hands. _"Oh!"_

He leaned forward and rested his arms on the seat in front of him, stretching his head to look down at the man sitting in the front seat. His eyes instinctively traveled downward.

"You've got a pretty nice stick, here."

His eyes immediately opened wide in fear. "SHIFT! Stick SHIFT!"

Strip chuckled and didn't seem to notice. "Well, thanks Junior. S'not much, and it's as old as all heck.

Junior gave a small sigh and wiped his forehead, glad that his Freudian slip hadn't alerted anyone to how much he wanted to get in the other man's pants. This complimenting stuff was harder than it seemed!

"We used to drive around t'all sorts of places in this little beauty," Lynda replied thoughtfully.

Junior slumped back into his seat. Well, at least it hadn't been terrible. Strip _had _seemed to enjoy the compliment, so it was a good start. He just wasn't good at this kind of stuff.

"You ever been out in the country like this, Junior?" Strip was looking at him through the rear-view mirror.

"Can't say that I have!" Junior shrugged, then quickly remembered and made sure to flash his most winning smile. Although, with the speed that he added it and the fact that his statement didn't really require such a smile, it came out more awkwardly forced than anything.

When Strip looked back towards the road, Junior let the smile fall from his face, replacing it with a small cringe. _"Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why am I always so stupid?"_

Junior watched out the window as tan countryside raced pass the car. _"A whole week with Strip…_ _and his_ wife!" His brain shot back to him and he felt a little guilty. But only a little. He couldn't help it. But anyway, he still couldn't quite believe it. He'd been overjoyed when Strip had asked him to come with them to visit the town McQueen had stayed in. Overjoyed that of all the other people Strip could have asked, he had chosen him. He felt a small smile return to his face.

"Alright, now… we need to take… " Strip squinted into the distant, the sun shining in his eyes. "… the _next _exit, right?"

"I thought we still had twenty minutes or so before we turned off…" Lynda frowned.

"No, no, I'm sure it's this one."

"Honey, I really don't think so…" Lynda pulled a map out of the front compartment and began to flip it open. "This isn't right at all."

Strip glanced over at the map she had sitting on her lap as she traced something with her finger. Junior also glanced towards the map, but wasn't able to see much without moving. He settled back and rested his chin in his hand.

"See? Here… we just… follow this road…" She traveled up the roads they had already taken. "… and then… _this _exit…"

"Wait, I can't see where you're pointing." He leaned over to get a better look at the map. "Are you even on the right road?"

"Of course I am, honey. Now, right here, can't you see it?"

"Well, I'd be able to if your finger wasn't in the way."

Junior chuckled a little under his breath and glanced towards the front. He watched as the car started to veer into the left lane and a car careened dangerously towards them.

"A car…" He chuckled. Suddenly, he jolted upright. "A CAR!" He launched himself forward and took a hold of the steering wheel, steering hard to the right. Strip instinctively slammed on the brakes and with a horrible screeching, the car's back-end swerved forward and they came to a halt, perfectly situated on the shoulder of the road.

Junior let out a deep sigh of relief and let himself slip off the steering wheel. Realizing he was now situated cozily in Strip's lap, he quickly turned around to face the older man.

Strip was laughing as he looked down at him. "Well, geez, Junior, if you wanted to drive that much, you coulda jes said somethin'."

Junior closed his eyes in disbelief. This was going to be one interesting trip.

------------------------

They made it to Radiator Springs without much of a hitch, thankfully. They had used their time situated on the side of the road to figure out exactly which exit they needed to take and from there it had all been smooth sailing.

The sun was starting to set when they pulled up to a small motel called The Cozy Cone. There were a number of other cars parked in the lot and a few people milling about outside. Everything looked so quaint that Junior couldn't help but smile.

After the car was parked, Junior popped out of the backseat, dragging his bag along behind him. "So this is Radiator Springs, huh?"

Strip got out of the front and walked around to the trunk to unload the rest of the bags. "Looks a lot like the town I grew up in." He smiled as he reminisced.

Junior slung his bag over his shoulder and walked over to where Strip was pulling the bags out of the car. "Hey, let me help!"

Strip flashed him an adorable smile and Junior practically felt his heart melt. "That'd be great, Junior! If you could just take one or two it'd be a big help."

Junior was all smiles as he walked over to the pile of bags. _"Be still my beating heart - that _smile! _How could one _not _fall in love with that? It must be working… it must!" _He glanced down. There were two larger suitcases and three small bags, most of which had things like snacks and toiletries. _"I'll just have to show him what a loving, caring, helpful individual I am!" _And with that, he picked up all three of the bags and slung them over his shoulder to match his own. Then he took one of the suitcases in his hand.

He made his way up to where Lynda was waiting for the two of them near the entrance to the motel office. With each step the bags began to feel heavier and heavier. He was breathing quite hard by the time he made it up. He heard footsteps and turned to see Strip walk up, carrying the last suitcase.

"You sure you can handle alla' that?" Strip gave him an inquisitive look.

"Ahaha. Yeah, I'm fine! Piece a' cake!" A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

The three of them stepped into the motel office and up to the counter where a pretty blonde girl stood up to greet them. "Welcome to the Cozy Cone, can I help y…ou…" She looked like she was searching through her mind. "Oh my gosh! You're The King, right? You raced against Lightning?"

Strip tipped his hat. "The very same, ma'am. You ken call me Strip, though."

The girl brushed her bangs out of her face. "This is such an honor! My name's Sally, uh… Strip." She seemed uncomfortable addressing him on a first-name basis.

"The pleasure's all mine, Sally. This here's my wife, Lynda," he gestured to his left, "and this is mah good friend, Junior." He gripped Junior around the shoulders with his free arm.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise. If Lightning were here I'd have him come and say hello, but he's actually out with some of his friends." She glanced down at the counter and seemed to remember what she was doing. "Oh, are you looking to stay the night?"

"We're actually lookin' to stay the week if that'd work."

"Oh, wonderful! That'll be fine." She sat back down and began to sort through some of the papers on her counter. "What kind of room do you want?"

Strip thought for a moment. "We'll go ahead and take a double… do you by chance have any cots?"

"Of course!"

"That's great. That'll work out nicely then." He got out his wallet to pay Sally.

"Come on, Junior. Let's get those bags outside." Lynda beckoned to him and the two of them stepped outside into the night air. He looked around at the adorable little orange cones that circled around the office.

"It was so nice of you to come with us, Junior." He turned to see Lynda smiling at him. "I haven't seen my husband this happy in quite some time… especially with the wreck and all."

"Yeah…" Junior began to feel more and more guilty. He tried to direct his attention somewhere else. "It's a nice, little town, huh?"

The two of them looked out past the motel towards the main street. They could hear idle chatter not too far away.

"Mmhmm." They stood in comfortable silence for a few minutes. The sun was almost all the way set.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite girl and my favorite guy."

The two of them turned around to see Strip come out of the office with the keys to their room.

"Which room are we, honey?"

Strip pointed towards a cone a short ways away. "Number four, just down that-a-way."

The three set off towards the cone and Junior heaved his load of bags along with him. The bags however, didn't seem as heavy as before. In fact, Junior felt like he could walk on air he was so happy. Today had turned out to be a very good day indeed, and he could only hope that tomorrow would be ever better. He decided he would move on to chapter two of his new favorite reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews! They make me happy. I'm just happy to profess the love that is Junior/Strip to the world! Muahahaha! Er… anyway… here's chapter two! Yes!

By the way, please never try to do what the book tells Junior to do, lol. I made all that crap up, even if it is slightly based on various self-help books.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Cars… though I seriously wish I did. Or I at least wish I owned my own 1970 Plymouth Superbird. I think I could live in happiness forever if I did. Hehehehe.

The Art of Seduction

By Basil-Ovelby

Chapter 2

_Chapter Two: That Touchy-Feely Game_

_In this book, we'll work very slowly to be sure that the love of your life indeed loves you back. One of the ways to do this is to instill feelings in them without them even knowing it. Let them get comfortable around you, let them enjoy being with you, subtly send your own signs that you want to be more than friends. They will start to develop feelings for you all on their own._

_One thing that really helps is touching - little touches every now and then. When you walk up to them to say something, lightly touch them on the shoulder. When you're sitting next to them, brush their hand. It's little touches like this that they might not notice consciously, but subconsciously, they'll start to work their magic. This, of course, is obviously not going to make them fall in love with you, but it's a great start to letting them know that you're interested in more…_

Junior woke up the next morning a bit groggy, but in his mind he was ready and rarin' to move forward with his next seduction mission. He had taken the liberty of stealthily reading the next chapter by moonlight after he was sure Strip and his wife were both asleep.

Rubbing his eyes, he could tell that it was morning from the brightness that was trying to make its way into his tightly-closed eyes. He finally gave up and cranked them open as far as he could.

Strip was staring right at him.

"Eeeee!" He clutched his blanket in surprise. Somehow his upper-body had fallen off the cot during the middle of the night and he was now situated with his legs up on the cot and Strip staring down at him from his own bed.

"Look who's finally up!" Strip chuckled as he looked at Junior's disheveled form.

"Oh, did he wake up? That's good." Lynda's voice came from the open bathroom.

Junior gave a little groan and tried to pull himself up. This, unfortunately, only resulted in him falling back down, so he reworked his strategy and pulled his legs down from the bed. "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven."

Junior managed to pop up from the floor. "That late? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Strip rested his chin in his hand. "Well, you just looked so cute lyin' like that… it'da been a shame to move ya." He gestured casually to Junior's hair. "And I must say… that's the best bed-head I've ever seen."

Junior blushed and tussled his hair violently. This just caused Strip to laugh again. Lynda walked out of the bathroom still brushing her hair.

"Where do you think they serve that complimentary breakfast, honey?"

Strip turned around to lie on his side so he could see his wife. "M'not sure… maybe outside? We could go ask Sally."

"Good, because I'm getting pretty hungry." She returned to the bathroom to finish up her hair.

Strip grinned and looked back to Junior. "Guess that means we'll be heading out for breakfast. If you wanna shower, it's all yours."

"Ok." Junior made his way to his feet and tossed the mass of sheets that had practically been stripped from the mattress back onto the cot. "I'll just meet you guys out there, then?"

"Sounds good to me." He then held his hand by his mouth in a fake-whisper. "Wouldn't want the missus to get grouchy."

Lynda's head appeared in the bathroom door. "What was that, _dear?_"

Strip laughed as he got to his feet. "Nothin', darlin', nothin'."

-----------------------

Junior felt much fresher as he walked across the street to the café after his shower. He saw Strip and Lynda sitting at one of the tables outside it, talking to some of the other townsfolk. He figured that breakfast must be served through the café.

As he got closer, everyone turned to look at him. Awkwardly, he walked quickly until he made it to an empty chair next to Strip and sat down in a hurry.

"Y'have a good shower?" Strip asked him between bites of his scrambled egg.

"Er, yeah…" He glanced around and noticed people slowly chewing their food and looking at him, waiting for some kind of introduction. "Oh, uh…" He gave a slight wave. "Hi, uh, everyone… name's Junior." He died off at the end.

Strip smiled and patted him on the back. "He's one of my racin' buddies."

"Well, hello there. It's nice to see a few handsome young faces around here." An ancient-looking lady at the end of the table was eyeing him. He did his best to avoid cringing and gave a forced little laugh.

"So, man, do you know Lightning?" A guy with small, magenta glasses asked him from across the table.

"Well, I do, a little… I haven't exactly talked to him much, but I have, er, raced with him before." He could have slapped himself for sounding so stupid.

A lady in a light-green skirt and blouse came out of the diner and walked over to their table. She noticed Junior. "Hey, hun, can I get you anything to eat? Eggs? Toast? Bacon?"

"Er…" Junior glanced around. "Eggs'll be fine, thanks."

"Comin' right up!" She made her way back into the diner.

Junior gave a little sigh and settled down into his seat better, glad that no one was looking at him anymore. He gave a little side-glance to Strip and then remembered what he had read last night. This would be a perfect time to start with chapter two, right?

Without turning his head at all, he quickly looked around to find something he could do. Would it be too awkward and painfully obvious if he tried to like, touch his hand or something? He wasn't sure. He took a glance down towards the table and noticed underneath that their knees weren't all that far apart. That could be a pretty easy way to touch him and he could easily write that off if Strip asked him about it.

Ever so slightly, he angled his lower-body to face more towards Strip, letting his knees get a little closer. He had to be careful and try not to let Strip notice what he was doing.

He felt the slightest contact from his left knee and stopped, seeing if Strip made any sort of movement. He didn't – merely kept on eating his scrambled eggs. Junior let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He decided to be just a little bit bolder and pushed his knee even closer.

Now they were definitely touching. Junior felt his face get a little warm. He rested his chin in his hand and looked around in the other direction as though bored. After a few seconds without a reaction from Strip, he glanced back to see Strip staring off in front of him, lazily munching on the last of his eggs. He hadn't noticed a thing.

Junior congratulated himself on being so very sneaky. It felt pretty nice – touching him, that is. Not that it was even that big of a touch. Although, oddly enough, part of Junior actually _did _want Strip to notice. But then again, part of Junior also wanted to ravage the older man right here and now, and that just wouldn't work at all.

He saw the lady from before come back out of the diner with a tray of food. His stomach growled – he hadn't even realized he was hungry! Seducing Strip had a tendency to overtake all the rest of his thoughts.

"Here ya go. Hot and fresh!" She set the plate in front of him and the steam rose up to hit him in the face.

"Phwoo!" He gave a little chuckle. "Thanks! Uh…"

"Flo." She smiled.

"Thanks, Flo. Smells great!"

"It's no problem!" She walked back over to the diner doors.

Junior looked down and was about to grab his fork when he noticed how conveniently it had been set down near Strip's hand which sat idly on the table. _"I smell another opportunity."_ He gave a little smile.

As nonchalantly as he could, he set his hand down and closed it around the fork. As he brought it back up, he let his hand slide a little farther to the left than it needed to, consequently brushing past Strip's hand. Excited, he then proceeded to innocently dig into his eggs.

Nothing happened. He eyed Strip. He looked exactly the same, didn't move at all. Junior's first reaction was one of disappointment, which he was rather surprised at. Why would he want Strip to notice? That would only amount to a rather awkward set of questions which he would, being his usual, articulate self, stumble through. And yet… he wanted Strip to notice so _bad._

He took a bite of his eggs, his eyes still focused on Strip. He wanted Strip to _notice him._

He pushed his knee up against Strip's a little farther. Nothing. Strip was now holding his head in his heads with his eyes half-closed. Junior raised his hand to bring some eggs to his mouth and let his elbow reach out quite a bit farther than it needed to, brushing past Strip's upper-arm. Strip gave a little yawn.

Junior was getting a little frustrated. He leaned his chair back on its hind legs and idly brought another forkful of eggs to his mouth. _"You idiot! This is a good thing… perfect, even! He hasn't noticed you at all, but like the book said, it'll be, like, smoldering in his sub-consciousness." _He glanced over at Strip again. _"But… but… I want him to _notice me! _At least let him look at me… come _on!_"_

He let his chair fall back to the ground with a thud. With one more look at Strip, his desire to be noticed overcame everything else and he stood up, grabbing Strip's hand.

"Hey, I need to show you something!"

Strip gave him a surprised look. "Huh? Oh, ok-" Before he even finished his sentence, Junior had pulled him to his feet and started dragging him back towards their room. "Be right back, folks." Strip smiled and raised his hat in farewell with his free hand.

Junior didn't even know what he was doing. He was starting to panic. What exactly what he going to show Strip? He had no idea! He would have to make something up, some really stupid story or something, but he couldn't think at all thanks to his initial panic and the fact that he was holding Strip's hand. He kept walking towards the room, knowing it was the only thing he could do. He was starting to sweat.

They made it back to the room and Junior swung the door open so they could step inside. As soon as they were in, Junior began to fervently sweep the room with him eyes, looking for something, _anything_ that could give him an idea of what to say next.

Strip stepped up beside him. "What was it you wanted me ta see, Junior?"

"Er… ah…" He couldn't think of anything. There was nothing here! Nothing that would work… what was he going to-

And then he saw it - something that could save him. He praised God.

"A s-s-spider! A spider!" He shakily pointed towards the corner of the room. Letting go of Strip's hand, he situated himself behind the older man and clutched his jacket in fear. "I saw it this morning after my shower, but… but then I forgot about it! … 'til… just now." He peeked his head over Strip's shoulder, resting his chin down on it.

"Ahahahaha. You're afraid of that?" Strip pointed back to the spider.

Junior violently nodded his head.

Strip began to walk over to the spider, so Junior clutched his jacket tighter, letting his other hand conveniently rest just below Strip's hip.

"It's just a tiny, lil' thing." Strip bent down and picked the spider up with his finger. He held it up for Junior to see. "See?"

Junior took this opportunity to wrap his arms around Strip's waist and burrow cutely into his shoulder. "But… but I don't like spiders! They're all scary and gross." Maybe he was overdoing it a little…

Strip, oblivious as always, simply hugged Junior with his free arm and observed the tiny spider on his finger. "But they can't hurt ya at all. This one's so small it prolly couldn't hurt a flea!" He gave Junior a little pat. "Now… let's just take it outside and set it free."

He started to walk for the door and Junior quickly grabbed his hand, not quite wanting to give up his gratuitous, scared and innocent Strip-touching yet. Might as well milk it for all it was worth!

They walked back outside and Junior watched as Strip gently set the spider on a near-by potted plant. "See? There we go… all better."

Junior gave a sigh of fake relief. "Thanks, Strip."

"S'no problem. Why don't we head back down to the others, huh?"

"Ok." Junior couldn't help but feel a little juvenile, but it had definitely been worth it. Besides, he would soon have his time to dominate over the older man… He gave a devilish little grin.

He looked up and noticed Strip looking at him. "Ah! Uh… I mean, uh, lead the way! Ahaha… ha…"

Blushing furiously, he started to follow Strip back to the café. He would have to be more careful! Having never been around Strip this much before, he'd never had to keep his dirty little thoughts in check like this. It had been quite the successful morning, however, so Junior decided he would have to check out chapter three later this afternoon. That book was turning out to be a quality investment.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks so much to all my reviewers! I'm just so happy that other people enjoy this pairing too. XD I actually feel pretty good about getting this chapter up, lol. For a while, I've had this problem of writing two chapters and then not being able to get anything else done. But I've broken the curse, muahahaha! cheers in triumph Sure.

Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Cars. DARN!

The Art of Seduction

By Basil-Ovelby

Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: You as a Sexual Being_

_With the past two chapters, you've been slowly forming a lasting relationship with your love interest. After a few weeks of this, you should be ready to move on to this next step. In this step, we will begin to turn that trusting, friendly relationship into something more. Remember that you must move slowly in order not to frighten them away. One of the worst things you can do is rush through this._

_This chapter involves letting your love interest begin to see you in a more sexual light. You know that you're good friends by now, thanks to the first two chapters, but now you've got to have themselves questioning their further feelings for you. This isn't flirting yet. None of your actions in this chapter should relate directly to them, but plan your actions to happen as if by chance in the presence of your love interest. Let your love interest know that you are indeed a sexual being. You are free to think of your own ideas, but a few to get you started would be wearing less or more revealing clothes, moving/walking in a more sexual manner, and acting innocently seductive (to others or to your love interest). I'm sure you'll be able to think of more of your own…_

"Red's settin' up th'pool!" A man with grungy brown hair under his oversized trucker's hat stood watching the spectacle. He had earlier introduced himself to Junior as Mater. He clasped his hands together and fidgeted around excitedly.

Junior, Strip and Lynda stood off to the side, watching silently. It was one of those old, free-standing pools, and it definitely looked like it had seen better days. It sagged horribly, and there were mud streaks lining its faded blue sides. Junior was surprised it even held water. The local fireman, Red, had connected a few of his hoses together so that it could be filled up.

"I can't even believe we still have that thing. It looks horrible!" A man with dirty-blonde hair and an old military jacket tied around his waist stood not far off, the light-haired man from breakfast standing next to him. They'd already introduced themselves as Sarge and Fillmore.

"Now, don't say thaaat… Fillmore grinned at the other man through half-lidded eyes. "It'll be fun, come on, Sarge."

"There's no way you're getting me in there!"

"It'll be nice and cool…"

"Like I care."

Fillmore shrugged, the smile never leaving his face. He went back to watching the slowly rising water in the pool. It was almost full. Mater was leaning over the edge with his arms in the water, legs dangling in the air.

Junior was grinning to himself. This would be the perfect opportunity to… how had it been worded? _Reveal himself in a more sexual light._ He gave Strip a sidelong glance and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"So Strip… you gonna go swimming?" He asked innocently.

"Well…" Strip brought his hand up to rub his chin. "Sure would feel nice. It's a little warmer here than I'm used to." He chuckled. "But… I didn't bring trunks or anything."

Junior turned to face him. "Who needs trunks? I'm fine swimmin' in my jeans…" He kicked his foot out a little bit as he said this.

"Well…" Strip started again. "I guess it wouldn't hurt nothin'." They both looked over to see Mater abruptly fall into the pool. Strip turned to his wife. "You wanna swim?"

"Actually, I'd love to." She smiled and looked down at the t-shirt she was wearing. "I don't mind gettin' this old shirt wet."

Mater popped his head over the side of the pool and hung his arms over the ledge. "Ya-hoo! This here feels great!" He gave a huge smile.

Fillmore was slowly dragging Sarge closer to the pool, his hand gripping one of Sarge's wrists. Sarge was being difficult and sliding his feet begrudgingly.

"Come on, Sarge. You know you wanna get in."

"And I know I wanna smack you across the head, hippie." This statement merely made Fillmore shake his head in amusement.

Junior tugged lightly at the sleeve of Strip's shirt. "Let's go!" He gave his most winning, and hopefully most charmingly seductive, smile. He started walking towards the pool, stripping his shirt off as he did so. Flipping his hair back as he pulled his head out of the shirt, he tried to look as positively dashing as he could.

He looked back to see if Strip was looking at him and was most dismayed to see him looking the other way, saying something to his wife. He gave a little scowl. The two of them then walked towards him, Lynda holding Strip's hat while he took off his own shirt. Junior forced himself to look in front of him towards the pool to keep from ogling.

"You ready, buddy?" Strip gave him a little nudge with his elbow, patting his hat back onto his head.

"I'm always ready." Junior responded with a little smirk. He then used his arms to hoist himself up on the edge, promptly losing his grip on the slick surface and sliding ride into the water.

With a splash, he burst back out of the water, clutching his upper-arms. "It's f-f-f-freezing!" He chattered.

Both Strip and Lynda stood leaning over the side, chuckling at his predicament. Mater swam over joyfully. "Heeeey buddy, don't it feel gooood?" He gave a huge smile, his two front teeth sticking out over his lower lip.

"I-I guess, if you live in A-A-Antarctica…" Junior rubbed his arms in an effort to warm himself up. He finally felt himself starting to get used to the freezing cold water.

There was a splash from the other side of the pool and Junior turned to see who it was.

"Holy hell!" Sarge was already pulling himself halfway up the ledge and gripping it tightly, wanting to get as far away from the water as possible. "This is like… ice water!"

"Aww, it can't be _that _bad…" Fillmore leaned on the edge and rested his head on Sarge's shoulder. This, however, turned out to be a bad idea as Sarge took the initiative to pull Fillmore head-first into the water.

It was Fillmore's turn to come up sputtering this time, and he wrapped his arms around his body, shivering. "O-Ok, I guess it _is _pretty cold…"

Junior chuckled to himself and turned to see Strip and Lynda sitting on the edge. Well, what was the fun in that? Now almost completely used to the water, he slipped down under it and made his way slowly towards them.

Once he could make out the shadow of the older man above him, he popped out of the water, grabbed Strip's legs, and pulled him down with him. Much splashing and flailing ensued, and Junior laughed as Strip finally righted himself.

"You've just gotta jump in, Strip. S'th only way to do it." He playfully made a few waves in Strip's direction. Strip grinned devilishly in his direction, a glint in his eye. "Uh-oh…"

Junior turned to swim away but was too late as Strip charged forward, dunking him completely under the water. He came back up in a flurry, spraying water everywhere.

"Hey, you!" He grinned, chasing after the already running Strip. He pounced on the older man, latching onto his back, and sending them both under the water.

It was at this time that Mater found the hose, still steadily streaming out water. He aimed it towards the middle of the pool, his finger in the middle of it so that it would spray water everywhere. Junior and Strip came up out of the water only to be met in the face with the spraying water.

Junior wrapped his arms around Strip's neck and hid his face behind the other's to protect himself from the water, grinning the whole time as he heard Mater laughing in triumph.

All of a sudden, the water stopped. Mater looked down at the limp hose. "Well, darn." He looked out of the pool to follow the path of the hose and saw that it had been disconnected somewhere in the middle, water now pouring out all over the dirt. "Whoops." He shrugged, tossing the hose out of the pool. "Oh well."

"Mater, you idiot." Sarge looked out at the water spreading out across the dirt. It bothered him, but not enough for him to get out of the pool and fix it.

Junior brought his head up to rest on Strip's shoulder and let one of his hands move down, ever so subtly, to rest on his chest. "Having fun?" It was an innocent question – could be taken a variety of different way.

Strip merely chuckled like always and then let himself fall backwards, pushing Junior back in the water with him. Junior immediately let go and swam back up, surfacing with a splash. Strip was smiling at him. "I always have fun." He glanced around, looking for something. "Hey, where'd my hat go?"

As Strip made his way back to the edge where his hat had fallen off, Junior let himself float towards the middle of the pool. A little grin made its way to his face. He wiggled his fingers a little under the water. _He'd been touching him… he'd been so close… and there hadn't even been any clothes between them! _He gently chewed on his bottom lip and sighed in bliss.

He floated until he made it to another edge and hoisted his elbows onto it so as to stay above the water. He looked out across the pool to see everybody. Mater was doing something a little ways away where he kept taking huge breaths and diving down into the water. Sarge was resting peacefully, much like Junior, with his elbows on the edge, his head tilted back. Lynda had finally gotten into the pool herself and walking around near the edge, slowly lowering herself until she could get her whole body into the water. Strip was not too far from her, having found his hat, and was now leaning up against the edge. Fillmore was…

Fillmore was right beside him!

Junior gave a little eep and almost lost his grip on the edge. Fillmore grinned and pulled himself halfway up the edge so he could rest his chin on it. He gave Junior a knowing look. "So, you like the old man, huh?"

"W-what?" Junior stammered.

Fillmore narrowed his eyes a little and looked out across the pool at Strip. "The old man. Mr. Weathers… you like him?"

Junior followed Fillmore's eyes and also looked across the pool. He saw Mater swim up to Lynda. "Hey, Mrs. The King, you wanna play 'tea party' with me?" Strip had his eyes closed, his hat shielding his eyes from the sun, as he rested on the edge.

"L-like him? I mean… er, well… you can, you can tell?"

Fillmore lowered his head back onto the edge again and smiled. "It's pretty obvious, man."

Ack! It was obvious? Was he going too far? Did everybody know? _Did Strip know?_

"I don't think he knows though…" Fillmore waved his feet idly in the water. "I'm not gonna lie… he's pretty dense for an older guy…"

Junior let out a little sigh of relief. He shifted uncomfortably on his elbows.

Neither one said anything for about a minute. Junior just stared down at his feet. "So… you gonna tell him?" He turned to face Fillmore at the sound of his voice.

"I, er, well… _even_tually… I will…" Junior felt himself blush.

Fillmore lowered his glasses to look at him better. "Is that an 'eventually I really will' or an 'eventually now get away from me'?"

Junior looked out across the pool again, still blushing. "I'm working on it…"

Fillmore kicked his feet enough so that his lower body rose up to the top of the water, his feet poking out. "You really should, man…" He silently watched his feet sink back down. The only sound now was the occasional splash as both Mater and Lynda were playing the hold your breath and dive game. Junior felt the gentle waves of the water lap up against him.

With a little pat on his back, Fillmore let himself come away from the edge. "Love is a beautiful thing, my friend. If there's love, you know it can't be wrong."

Junior gave a half-smile. "Yeah…"

Fillmore began to float backwards, away from Junior. "Just think about it, ok?" Junior nodded, and the other man finally turned around and began swimming back towards Sarge.

With a little sigh, Junior first looked over to Strip, who looked fast asleep by now, and then up at the sky, watching the clouds above him. He rested his head back on the edge of the pool and let his eyes close.

-------------------------

A few hours later, they were all getting out of the pool. Eventually, Mater had been able to gather them all up for an interesting game involving an inflatable ball and a long stick, which had turned out to be more fun than Junior had first thought, but now they were all pretty bushed. The sky was starting to turn a reddish-orange color as the sun got ready to set.

Junior hoisted himself up on the edge of the pool and slipped his legs over, coming to land in a rather slimy patch of mud and grass. "Ewwww…" He walked over to a patch of dry dirt and slid his feet around in it.

"Let's come back out n' play tomorra'!" Mater, still his usually happy self, stood dripping wet in his full clothes. Water ran rivulets down his face from his hat. "Maybe we ken even get out th' floaties!"

Fillmore walked over to him, carrying his shirt on his shoulder, and patted him on the back. "We'll look forward to it…" When he moved his hand away, he had to shake it to remove the newly acquired water.

Sarge tied his jacket back around his waist and pulled his white tank top back on, not caring that it got a little wet. "I thought it was supposed to rain tomorrow…"

"It is?" Strip was shaking his legs one at a time to try and get the water out of his pants.

"Yeah… don't remember where I heard it from though… maybe I'm thinking of some other time…" He gave a little shrug.

Lynda was also completely soaked since she'd had to wear all her clothes into the pool. She took handfuls of her shirt in her hands and wrung them out, leaving it quite wrinkled. "Whew! I'm soaked to the bone." She gave a little laugh.

Junior picked up his shirt from off the ground. Not really feeling like putting the shirt on over his wet body, he slung it over his shoulder like Fillmore had. "Why don't we head back to the motel. We can get out of these clothes."

"Good idea." Strip gave his hat a little shake and watched water come dancing off of it. He then plopped it back onto his damp hair and snatched up his shirt, shoes and socks from off the ground. The six of them headed back onto the main road to make their way back to the motel.

Mater stopped suddenly, standing straight up as if he'd just remembered something. "Oh hey, I'm gonna go see Lightnin'!" And with that, he took off in the other direction. Junior gave a little laugh and walked a bit quicker to catch up with Strip.

As they were walking, he saw two familiar faces approach from the other direction.

"Evening, ladies." Sarge barked out.

"Hey everyone." Sally gave a little wave and smiled. Flo, standing next to her, nodded her head in greeting. There was a little murmer of hello's from the guys. Sally looked to Lynda. "Oh hey, Flo and I are having a little girl's night out – get a couple drinks, maybe watch a movie or something. Would you like to join us?"

Lynda looked pleased. "I'd love to!" She looked down at her clothes. "Er… I should probably change first… and put my hair up." She wiped her wet bangs out of her eyes. "Could I run back to our room real quick?"

"Sure thing, honey." Flo stood with her hand on her hip. Lynda excused herself and walked quickly in the direction of the motel.

Sally looked at the four boys still standing there. "So what are you boys gonna do tonight?"

Fillmore had his shirt hanging around his neck and he reached up to lace his fingers through the armholes, letting his arms hang down. "I don't know… catch a bite to eat, maybe?"

"Hopefully nothing _weird._" Sarge eyed Fillmore.

Junior stretched his arms above his head. "I'm a little bushed… I'll probably just see if there's anything on TV or something…" Strip nodded and responded to his comment with a yawn.

They stood there for a few minutes, everyone just waiting in silence. Junior watched an ant carry a large crumb of something from one large crack to another.

"I'm back!" Lynda made her way back over to the group, wearing a fresh, clean outfit, her shoulder-length hair up in a ponytail. She had her purse with her.

"Alright, we ready to go, ladies?" Flo said with a smile. Sally and Lynda both nodded.

"Have fun, dear." Strip tipped his hat. Lynda came over to give him a quick peck on the cheek. Junior looked at the ground.

"You too. Don't you boys get into too much trouble while I'm gone." She flashed them all a smile and then the three of them headed off in the other direction.

Once they were gone, the four boys continued onward. When they got to the motel, Sarge and Fillmore broke away to head across the street. "You gentlemen have a nice evening, now." Sarge gave a quick little salute.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow." Fillmore grinned. He looked at Junior for a second longer than normal, but didn't say anything.

Junior watched the two of them head off for their houses as he followed Strip back to their motel room. He stopped for a second when he saw Fillmore's hand snake its way into Sarge's. He gave a little grin, noting that they were both heading in Fillmore's hut. So he wasn't the only one…

"You comin', Junior?"

He looked back to see Strip waiting for him and walked quickly to catch up.

---------------------

Junior flipped through the channels for the fifth time, still not finding anything on TV that was decent. He settled back in the pillows, not even watching the TV anymore. The two of them had changed into dry clothes when they got back, and then put all their pillows up at the head of bed so they could watch TV comfortably.

"Wait, go back… I thought I saw somethin'."

Junior changed the channel back a few stations and turned to an infomercial on a seven-piece knife set.

"Nevermind… thought it was somethin' else." Strip leaned back into the pillows and gave a little yawn.

Junior continued changing the channel. He'd started forming a little rhythm and was quite pleased with himself. He saw something familiar pop up on the TV screen and stopped. "Oh hey… The Deer Hunter."

"S'fine by me…"

Junior tossed the remote off the bed. "Whoops…" He resettled himself in the pillows now that he didn't have to hold the remote up any longer, and then turned his head to look at Strip. Neither one of them had bothered brushing their hair when they got back, so now his hair was sticking out in messy clumps. It made Junior smile – he'd never seen Strip except when for he was pretty well cleaned up.

"Hey, Strip?"

"Mm?"

"What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

Junior got the impression that Strip was shrugging into the pillows. "M'not sure…"

Junior idly watched Robert De Niro run around on the screen. "Maybe we could go see Lightnin' or somethin'… we haven't seen him yet."

"Mm…"

Junior stopped talking and watched the movie. Well, not really… he only half-watched it. He wasn't paying attention to it very well, especially since he was getting tired. After about fifteen minutes or so, he felt a bump on his shoulder and turned to see Strip completely conked out. He gave a little smile and rested his own head on Strip's. With his closest arm, he sneaked in to take the older man's hand in his own.

He continued watching the movie for another ten minutes, but pretty soon found himself dozing off as well.

-----------------------

Lynda closed the door behind her quietly, not wanting to wake the guys. She smiled over at them, shaking her head in amusement, when she saw them asleep on the bed. "Oh, boys…"

She walked over to the TV and turned it off, then headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she was done, she walked back out and turned off all the lights. Leaning over the bed, she kissed her husband on the forehead and gave Junior's arm a little pat. She then headed over to the cot and pulled the covers back, the cold sheets feeling wonderfully soft after her long day.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all the revieeeews! dances about happily They inspire me to continue writing! Well, along with these weird little plotbunnies that keep popping up in my head. O.0 This chapter was so exceedingly fun to write, and it came out so loooong! I was pretty much amazed. I guess when I was planning it out in my head, I didn't realize how much writing it would actually take, lol. But it actually went quite fast, which is always a good thing. It just kinda… flooooowed. Ooooh. XD

But I shall stop boring you with this endless chatter. On to the fic!

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Disney and Pixar, and not to me… I don't even have any original characters to call my own. ;; Lol.

The Art of Seduction

By Basil-Ovelby

Chapter 4

_Chapter 4: The First Test_

_Once you have followed the first three chapters diligently for a few weeks, you will probably be ready for this first test. This test is designed so that you will know whether or not you are ready to continue on, or if you need to go back and spend more time on the initial steps. This test is an significent part of the process, so treat it as very important and regard the results carefully._

_For this test, you will need a close friend. What you must do is try and make your love interest jealous by being very flirty, _but not too flirty, _with your friend._ _Don't go overboard with this or you will totally throw them off. Just a little bit. Hopefully, you will notice small changes in your love interest's mannerism, maybe even without them knowing it. Because of what you've been doing in the earlier chapters, it should cause some feelings to start rising up in them._

_Here are some actions for you to watch out for: staring at you while you're flirting, specifically not looking at you while you're flirting, trying to get between you and your friend somehow and trying to talk to you a lot while you're with your friend. Of course, there are many others as well. You must also remember what your love interest's personality is like anyway, so that you can judge if something is rather out-of-character for them in this regard. If you see many of these responses in your love interest, then you should be ready to move on to the next chapter. If not, work your magic with the first three chapters for a while longer and try again…_

Junior awoke the next morning to find Strip cuddling against his arm, still fast asleep. He panicked a bit at first, looking around the room. It wasn't quite as bright as normal in the room, and he could hear the sound of rain falling on the roof. He looked to the bathroom and saw a light on.

The movement caused Strip to stir in his sleep, slowly waking him up. He groggily opened his eyes. "Mornin', Junior…" He nuzzled his head in the other's shoulder, still sleepy.

Junior could have melted into a pile of mush right then and there. He was just so CUTE!

"M-morning, Strip."

Strip slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, only able to keep them half-open. There was the sound of a brush being set down from the bathroom and Lynda appeared in the doorway.

"You guys up?"

Strip looked drearily over to his wife. "Mmm…" He looked about ready to fall back asleep. Lynda chuckled and walked over, giving her husband a quick kiss. Junior sat up, stretching his arms over his head.

"It doesn't look like it's gonna be a very nice day…" Lynda commented, turning her head towards the nearest window. Rain was coming down in steady torrents.

"Guess we won't be able to do anything outside today." Junior yawned and crawled forward a little bit on the bed to get out of the covers. He plopped back down at the end of the bed and stretched his legs as far as he could in front of him.

"I'll go finish up in the bathroom so you boys can shower." Lynda made her way back to the bathroom.

Junior nodded his head slightly and rested his arms back on the bed. "Hey Strip, you wanna shower first or can I?" He waited for an answer, but didn't get one. "Strip?" He turned around to find that Strip had lain back down and was now snoring contentedly. "Strip!"

------------------------

Breakfast that morning was located inside the café because of the rain. Junior had been introduced to two new people – the local sheriff and a small Italian man named Luigi. It was extremely amusing listening to the Italian man talk about a brand new shipment of tires he'd gotten in just yesterday. If there was one thing the man was, it was passionate about his work.

Junior was enjoying his bacon, idly swinging his legs back and forth under the table. He had taken the spot across from Strip and kept glancing up to take in the older man's adorable self. He was also trying to think about who he would have help him with this "test" of his.

"And so then, I tell the delivery man… 'the tires on your truck look not so good,' and he say back…"

Junior brought a piece of bacon to his mouth and watched Strip from across the table. Strip was munching on some eggs and watching Luigi talk with the Sheriff and his wife, chuckling to himself. His hair was still wet from his shower, but his hat covered most of it. Junior stared at the older man's mouth, wondering what it would be like to kiss him…

Strip looked back to his food to grab a few more forkfuls of eggs and his eyes met Junior's on their way back up. Junior immediately darted his eyes away, suddenly interested in a sign on the wall behind the table. His heart pounded loudly in his chest.

When he saw Strip turn back to the conversation, he let himself grin and focus on something other than the sign. He bit off another chunk of bacon happily.

Flo came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray. She set down a few coffee mugs in the middle of the table, followed by a large pot of coffee and a small ceramic holder containing sugar packets and creamer.

"Can I get anyone else anything? Butter? Jam?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Lynda smiled up at her, reaching forward to take one of the mugs. There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the table. Flo went around and began to take the plates away from people who were done eating.

As she was taking the plates back into the kitchen, she turned back towards the table for a second. "Hey, Ramone and I are plannin' on eatin' out tonight. Thought you folks might like to join us seein' as you don't really know a lot of places around here."

Junior, Strip and Lynda all looked over to her. Strip raised his hat a little so he could scratch his head. "Well hey, that's mighty kind of ya." He turned to Lynda, first giving Junior a quick glance. "What do you guys think?"

Junior leaned his elbows on the table. "Sounds good to me. It's not like we had any other plans tonight."

Lynda nodded in agreement. "That would be wonderful."

Flo smiled and used her hip to start opening the kitchen door. "Great! We'll probably leave around 6:00 or so." And with that, she was back in the kitchen.

Junior reached out to take one of the coffee mugs and waited for Strip to finish pouring his coffee so he could pour his own. As he took the pot from the older man, he made sure to innocently brush past his hand. Hey, he might not be on that chapter anymore, but it didn't mean he couldn't still try.

As he began to pour his coffee, the door to the café burst open and Junior gave a slight jump. Everyone at the table turned to see who it was. He only needed a glance at the green color of the newcomer's racing jacket to know who it was and his hand immediately tightened around the handle of the pot.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't his majesty, the King. Didn't ever expect to see you out here in this dump of a town."

Strip turned to face the man, a slight frown on his face. "Chick, what'r you doin' here?"

"I could ask the same thing to you." Chick sauntered over. He picked up an apple from the center bowl on another table, polishing it on his shirt. "I kinda figured after your retirement you might crawl into a hole somewhere and die quietly." He took a large bite out of the apple.

Strip immediately stood up, his hand gripping the table tightly. Nobody at the table said a word, just watching both men wide-eyed. "You wanna say that again, _buddy?_"

Chick walked closer still, one hand on his hip as he took another bite of the apple. "I said you're _done,_ loser. Your reign is _over!_" Apple sprayed from his mouth onto Strip's face.

Strip scowled and brought his hand up to wipe it away, but before he could, Chick had his chin firmly in his hand. He brought the older racer's face close to his own, wiping a piece away with his thumb. "But don't worry… when _I _rule the track, I won't forget to come _thank_ you…" He grinned devilishly.

Junior couldn't take it anymore. Darting forward from his seat, he shoved the dark-haired man away, almost toppling him over. He stepped in front of Strip to guard him against the other man.

Chick gave a small laugh and straightened his jacket. "Ooh, someone's a little protective." He took a step towards Junior. "But don't worry, lover boy, I'm not here to steal your-"

Junior's hand quickly went to Chick's mouth and he gripped the other man's shoulder. He turned to look sheepishly at Strip and the others, forcing a laugh. "Ahaha… Chick and I need to, er, _talk _about something. We'll just… go over here now." He dragged Chick over a couple of tables and plopped him down in a chair. He gave a glance back to see Strip scratching his head in confusion.

"What was that all about?" Chick barked, weaseling his way away from Junior's hand. Junior sighed and settled down in the seat across from Chick.

"What do you mean 'what was that all about'? _You're _the one causing the commotion, you idiot." He glared at Chick, his anger coming back now that the near disaster was over.

Chick smirked, glancing at what was left of his apple and tossing it onto the table. "Aw, well, it's _bound _to happen, you know? Not _everybody _can be the best like me." Junior growled angrily. Chick merely turned his eyes to towards the younger racer, sneering. "But, as I was about to say, I'm not here for the old man. I'm here for Lightning."

Junior formed an inquisitive expression on his face. "You like Lightning?"

Chick sat back and crossed his arms. "Yes, I… _what!_" He lurched forward. "No! Of course not! That's not what I meant at all!"

Now it was Junior's turn to smirk. "Yeah, well, that's probably good. He pretty much belongs to Sally, now."

Chick raised an eyebrow. "Sally? Ha! Funny you should say that since I just saw him snoggin' that tow trucker last night at the impound!"

"Mater?"

Chick nodded with a grin. "Yup! Goin' at it like rabbits." He scratched under his nose. "In fact, I find the two of them there more nights than I don't."

It took Junior a few minutes to get the bewildered expression off his face. He hadn't been expecting that at _all_. He brought his hand up to scratch his chin. "Well… I must say, that is a surprise." He eyed Chick from across the table. "But wait… why are you watching him at the impound?"

"Why do you _think?_"

"'Cuz you liiiiike him?"

Chick slapped his forehead in exasperation. "_No! _I'm spying on him, you nitwit! I'm gonna need all the information about him I can get in order to rightfully claim this year's Piston Cup!"

Junior narrowed his eyes in amusement. "And collecting this information also means watching him getting it on with another guy?"

"Yes! NO! I mean, no, I just _happened _upon it, ok? You kinda run into that stuff when you spy on someone all the time. Geeeez." He pushed a stray lock of hair that had gotten loose from his outburst back behind his ear.

"Ok, ok, sure. I'll take your word for it." Junior leaned back in his seat. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a set of blonde-haired twins come out of the kitchen and start wiping down tables. He'd seen them before, but for the life of him he could _not _remember their names…

"So yeah, that's why I'm here. A smart racer knows everything about his enemy."

Junior turned back to Chick. "Yeah, sure, Chick. But you don't see _me _spying on anyone."

"Well, kid, you've gotta have some kind of _chance, _first." He grinned, laughing to himself.

Junior gave him a blank stare, realizing it wasn't even worth it to get angry. He looked back to Strip and the others and saw them talking amongst themselves once again. Strip turned his eyes to glance over at Junior, but quickly turned back when he saw the younger racer looking in his direction.

Junior felt a goofy grin form on his face and turned back to see Chick ogling one of the twins.

"Heeey, there, babe." He had his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair. "How 'bout you and me, we see the sights around here? I've got plenty for you to see back in my room…"

The pig-tailed girl turned up her nose and looked away disdainfully. "I wouldn't consider going _anywhere _with you even if you were the last guy on earth!"

Chick laughed and turned back to Junior. "I think she likes me."

Junior cocked and eyebrow. "Sure, Chick. I'm sure that's exactly what she's…" His eyes opened wide at a sudden thought. "Chick… CHICK!" He leaned his elbows on the table and pushed himself closer to the other man.

Chick jerked back in surprise. "Eeeyah, _what?_"

"I need you to flirt with me!"

Chick looked at him in disbelief, finally a very amused smile forming on his face. "Well, now, that's sorta direct, don't ya think? I mean, normally you don't _ask _that kinda thing…"

"No, no!" Junior let himself fall back into his chair. "I need you to just _pretend _to flirt with me… and then I'll pretend back."

Chick scratched his head in confusion. "Wait… _what?_" He looked over at Junior as if to get where he was coming from. For a split second, he saw Junior's eyes glance towards the other table. Chick felt a devilish smile form on his face as he followed Junior's eyes. "Aaahhh… so little Junior _does _want to get lucky with the old man."

Junior felt his face get hot. "Well, I, er…"

"Say no more, my friend. I think this is something I could have fun with." Chick gave a laugh. "Now… do you want me to be hopelessly-smitten…" With his back on the table, he slid across to Junior, his hands clasped innocently. "… or ravenously sex-hungry?" He slid himself up and situated his legs around Junior, using his collar to pull the younger man closer to him.

"Eee!" Junior pushed the older man away. "Not yet, not yet!" He quickly glanced over to the other table and was relieved to see none of them looking in their direction. He straightened his collar. Chick was giving him a very amused look from his spot on top of the table. "We need… we need a more… _opportune _time…" Junior explained.

He rubbed his chin in thought, staring down at the table. _"When would be a good time… a time with not too many other people and where he'd definitely be close enough to see everything…?" _The thought came to him suddenly. "DINNER!" He clamped his hand over his mouth in surprise at how loud that had come out. "_Dinner!" _He whispered through his hand. "Flo and Ramone are taking the three of us out to dinner tonight. You come along too!"

Chick rapped on Junior's head. "Uh, earth to Junior! Strip _does not like _me. What makes you think he or anyone else will let me come to dinner?"

Junior gave a sly smile. "Just leave that to me."

--------------------------

Back at the motel, Strip had taken to reading a book on the bed and Junior decided to get out of his wet clothes after being in the rain. Lynda had gone to check out Lizzie's store since she loved little knick-knacks and collectibles.

Junior looked at himself in the mirror in the bathroom. He'd hung his clothes over the shower rack and was now wearing a towel around his waist. _"You can do this!"_ He told himself, trying to look as confident as possible.

With an abrupt turn, he started for the door. He held his breath and turned the knob, opening the door a crack. He saw Strip on the bed. He had turned the bedside lamp on in order to get enough light to read. Summoning all his courage, he opened the door the rest of the way and stepped out into the room.

He yawned and stretched his arms above his head innocently. "It feels good to get out of those clothes! It was raining pretty hard, huh?"

Strip turned his head to look at him and gave a little nod, then returning to his book. Junior nonchalantly sauntered over to the bed, crawling up onto it.

"Whatcha readin'?" He did his best to look sweetly inquisitive.

Strip turned the book so that Junior could see the cover.

"A Home at the End of the World…?" Strip nodded and positioned the book so he could read again. "Never heard of it…"

He watched Strip read for a few seconds. "Must be pretty good, huh?" Strip nodded again.

After waiting a few more seconds, Junior leaned his head over as if he wanted to see what Strip was reading. He let his head gently rest on the older man's shoulder as he looked up at the book. By now he had his arms wrapped around Strip's arm.

He read a few random lines. "Doesn't look all that good to me." He turned his head to look at Strip.

"It is." Strip kept staring straight at the book.

Junior watched the other man continue to read. "Hey Strip?" I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something."

His eyes didn't leave the book. "Mm?"

"Well, it's about Chick…"

Strip stopped reading, turning to look at Junior. "What about Chick?"

"Well, uh…" Junior made light circles on Strip's arm with his finger. "I was talking to him this morning, you know… and well, he really, uh, really wants to say that he's sorry."

"Does he now?"

Junior nodded his head. "Mmhmm." He brought his legs forward and lightly felt one of his feet touch Strip's leg. "He said, he said… that… he's just had a bad, er, couple of weeks, and that he doesn't really mean what he said…" He walked his hand across Strip's chest and moved up to straighten out the other man's collar.

"Oh… oh really?"

Junior put on a sort of pouty face. "And… I felt kinda sorry for him, you know? It made me feel kinda bad. So… I invited him to come to dinner with us tonight, to… make up and all." He slid his foot to the inside of Strip's leg and slowly began traveling upwards. "Is that ok with you?"

An audible gulp came from Strip's throat as he just stared wide-eyed at Junior. Junior smiled back innocently.

"Well… well, I, uh… I guess that would be ok. I mean… he is sorry, right?"

"Mmhmm."

"Sure then, yeah… w-why not?"

Junior smiled happily. "Thanks, Strip!" With that, he bounded off the bed and over to his suitcase, grabbing the clothes he'd set out earlier. With a little twist on his foot, he then made his way back into the bathroom to change. This was turning out perfect. Just perfect.

-------------------------

Junior fidgeted nervously during the car ride to the restaurant they were going to. He gave a side-glance to Chick, sitting next to him. He wasn't really sure what he was worried about, but he just couldn't get that nervous, uneasy feeling out of his stomach.

He'd told Chick to wait until they were in the restaurant. He wasn't sure why he did this either, except that he figured it would be really awkward to start in the car. He idly bounced his leg up and down, clenching and unclenching his hands.

Strip looked over to him and set his hand on his leg, forcing the bouncing to stop. "What's got you so jittered up?"

Junior faked a little laugh. "Jittered? Haha, nothing's got me jittered up. I'm just excited is all."

Strip gave him a cock-eyed look but didn't say anything. Junior felt the car come to a stop, and Ramone shifted it into park. "Come on, everyone, let's get us some food!" Flo exclaimed happily, getting out of the car.

Chick, being on the end, opened the back door and hopped out. He turned back around to see Junior coming to the door after him. "Here, let me help you." He took Junior's wrist and guided him towards the door, letting his hand rest on Junior's back. He glanced up to see Strip watching as he waited, and with a silent snicker, let his hand slide to rest on Junior's rear. He grinned devilishly up at Strip as the older man stared back wide-eyed.

"Thanks, Chick." Junior straightened out his jacket as he stood up straight outside of the car, oblivious to what had just happened. Chick followed him closely as he began to walk after Flo and Ramone, Strip and Lynda getting out of the car. With quite a bit more show than necessary, he threw his around Junior's shoulder and pulled the younger man closer to him as they walked. This was going to be even _more _fun than he had initially thought.

Once they were all inside the restaurant, it didn't take long for them to get their table. They followed the waiter to a table with three chairs on each side. Junior looked around as he walked, taking in the scenery of the restaurant. It was fairly dark inside, but it was lit up by sconces on the wall and hanging light-fixtures centered over every table. About half the other tables were taken with other customers.

"Here you are, sirs." The waiter put menus down in front of every chair.

"Hey, Junior. Here, sit here." Chick pulled out one of the chairs on an end and gestured down to it. When Junior sat down, Chick took the seat right next to him. Lynda walked over to take the seat next to Chick. Flo and Ramone sat on the opposite side, with Strip taking the only seat left – the one across from Junior.

"Mm, I'm excited! I haven't had food like this in tooo long." Flo happily opened her menu.

"You're tellin' me, man." Ramone brushed a few hairs out of his eyes and picked up his own menu.

Chick gave a huge yawn and stretched his arm up. When he saw Strip glance up at him from across the table, he let it fall down to rest on the back of Junior's chair. "So Junior, what are _you _having?"

"Uhhh…" Junior was perusing the menu. "I'm not sure yet…"

Chick leaned closer. "I would suggest the, uh…" he glanced down at the menu. "Stone Soup Deluxe." He had lowered his voice so only Junior could hear him.

"Do you even know what that is?" Junior narrowed his eyes in amusement.

"Ahaha, er, no." They both gave a little chuckle. From across the table, Strip couldn't hear what they were saying. He just saw Chick lean over and whisper something to the younger man, resulting in them both laughing. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

Over the course of the meal, Chick continued to flirt ostentatiously with Junior, always making sure that Strip was looking at them. From seductively placing Junior's napkin on his lap, to playfully feeding him his first bite, to lovingly wiping his face after the meal, Chick had every angle covered. This was his playing field. He didn't do anything directly to Strip until the meal was nearing its end.

Continually glancing over at the older racer, he finally caught the other's eye. Strip raised his eyebrow in a rather bemused look. Slowly, making sure Strip knew exactly what he was doing, he lowered his eyes to focus on his hand, resting innocently on the table. Strip's eyes followed. Ever so subtly, he let his hand move off the table and make its way over to the gap between Junior's legs.

The sudden sound of someone coughing violently stirred Junior from his spacing out. He looked across the table to see Strip with his fist at his mouth, covering his cough. "I'll… I'll be right back," he made out through his fits, then standing up and quickly making his way to the restroom.

Junior stared after him worriedly. "Poor guy, musta had somethin' stuck in his throat." Flo murmured from across the table. Junior turned to look at Chick, who just gave him an innocent shrug.

After they had paid and were ready to go, they began to gather up their belongings and make their way to the door. Junior noticed that Strip kept giving him glances out of the corner of his eye. He wondered if the plan had worked. He hadn't really noticed anything during dinner, but now Strip was definitely paying more attention to him.

As they walked outside, Junior felt a slight tug at the end of his jacket sleeve and turned around to find Strip's hand latched onto his sleeve. While inside his head he was gushing about how adorably cute Strip looked and frantically wondering what he was going to do next, outside, he put on his best befuddled face. "What is it, Strip?"

"H-hey, would you… would you sit by me on the way home? I wanted to talk with ya about somethin'."

"Sure. It's fine by me." Junior felt like screaming for joy.

When Strip had said "sit by me," he had really meant it. He had Junior get in the car first, so that he sat on the end. Strip then took the spot next to Junior, not letting anyone else sit by the younger racer. Lynda climbed in to sit next to Strip. When Chick got into the car, Junior saw him make a fishing pole motion with his hands, mouthing the words "reel him in".

Once everyone was in, Ramone started the car, and they began the drive back to Radiator Springs. Junior sat in silence, his hands between his knees, as he watched out the darkened window. The only things he could make out were the stars in the sky.

"Well, that was fun, huh?" Flo looked back to the four people in the back seat. "Thanks for comin' with us."

"Thanks for treatin' us!" Lynda smiled.

"It was no problem. It's more fun with a bigger group anytime!" Ramone clicked a button to turn on the cruise-control.

Junior turned just enough so that he could see Strip. The older man didn't say anything or look at him. Junior idly wondered if the other man had just said the first thing he could think of that would result in him _not _sitting next to Chick. He didn't really have anything he needed to talk about.

The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful, and soon the four of them were clambering their way out of the back seat again, stepping out in front of the Cozy Cone.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow, then." Flo gave them a little wave out the window.

"See ya, thanks again!" Junior waved back. There were a few more goodbye's, and then the car drove off a little ways to park inside Ramone's body art shop.

A little awkwardly, Junior looked around at the other three. He wasn't sure what to do. He knew that he wanted to talk to Chick – he had probably seen more of what happened at the restaurant, and he wanted to get his opinion on everything. The four of them took a few steps towards the door to their room.

"Hey, uh… I'll be in in a little bit, ok? I need to talk to Chick." Junior scratched the back of his neck, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Strip's eyes got a little wider and he looked at Chick and then back to Junior. "Ok. We'll leave the door unlocked." He turned around to the motel room a tad bit dejectedly and watched as Lynda unlocked the door.

Junior motioned for Chick to follow him and they set off walking in the other direction. When they were far enough away, Chick turned to him. "Maaan, you've got him, like, hook, line and _sinker!_"

Junior's face lit up. "Really? I mean, yeah, he did look kinda bummed and all…"

"Are you kiddin' me? That guy's _seriously_ got somethin' for you. You didn't even see the _half _of what happened tonight."

Junior felt like he could float away he was so happy. He had hoped for good news, but this was like… too good to be true!

"I would be careful though… it looks more to me like he hasn't really _acknowledged _the fact that he likes you. He just kinda knows it and acts on instinct. Otherwise he probably would have been a bit more forward." Chick rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"What do you think I should do then?" Junior stuck his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Hmmm… well… I'd say… take him out, go do something… just the two of you. I _really_ doubt that he'd ever make the first move… but just see if he does anything else. Eventually you're just gonna have to tell him yourself."

"Yeah… I figured." Junior was never good with that kind of stuff. The two of them stood in silence for a minute or so, Junior thinking back on the night. "Well, thanks for everything, Chick. I really owe ya one."

"Aww, don't worry about it. Just call me the _love _doctor, ahaha." He shuffled his feet a bit. "'Sides, it was pretty fun." He reached out to pat Junior on the shoulder. "Oh, hey, and if you ever want to have a go I'm always avai-hey!" He stopped in mid-sentence, staring off a little ways down the road.

Junior looked towards where Chick was looking and saw a figure walking towards them.

"It's Lightning!" Chick whispered harshly. "Stay here, stay here." And with that, he was off, walking quickly to meet the other man.

Junior watched him in amusement, leaning back on the building behind him. He saw Chick pretend to act surprised at seeing him, then proceed to jeer a bit, standing back with his arms crossed. Lightning didn't look too happy. Junior wondered if Chick would ever get over his childish ways and stupid grudges. He just needed to lighten… up… a little… Ok, now THAT was unexpected.

Chick had Lightning up against the wall, kissing him roughly. Lightning looked extremely shocked at first, but then gave in, kissing back with equal fervor. Junior watched wide-eyed as Chick began to slide off Lightning's jacket, pushing him over and back so that they disappeared around the side of the building.

Junior just stood there, staring at the spot where they'd once stood. "Ooook." He reached up to push back his hair. "You don't like him, my _ass_." He smirked.

Rubbing his eyes, he turned around and started to head back to the motel. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Strip standing on the sidewalk in front of him. "Oh! Strip!" He stopped walking. "What are you doing?"

Strip cocked his head a little to the side. "I was… worried about you. Came out to check and make sure you were ok."

Junior practically melted at the adorable expression on the older man's face. "Ahaha, thanks…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm comin' back in now, though."

Strip glanced around. "Where's Chick?"

"Oh, he's screwing Lightn-SCREWING! Screwing… in a… _light-bulb! _Yeah, a light-bulb! One of the lights went out at the fire station." His panic died down.

"Oh."

"Yeah… that's what, er, that's what he wanted to tell me…?" Junior could have slapped his forehead. Could he ever sound _stupider?_

"I see."

Junior scratched a little under his chin and looked at Strip. "Come on… let's head back over to the room. If I don't get in bed soon you'll have to carry me back!"

Strip gave him a small smile. "Ok."

The two walked back in companionable silence.


	5. Chapter 5

Yaaaay! I got another chapter written! dances You don't know how happy it makes me that I actually might _get this one finished! _It's pretty much amazing. Maybe it's because I just love this pairing so much, hehe. XD

But anyway, thanks for all the reviews! They make me excited and wanting to write more! I didn't have any idea really, where this chapter was going when I started writing it this morning, lol. It just kinda… came out like this.

Disclaimer: Cars and all its characters belong to Disney and Pixar.

The Art of Seduction

By Basil-Ovelby

Chapter 5

_Chapter 5: Let the Love Show_

_One thing that will really help in seducing your love interest will be having some kind of common interest. You must find this on your own. Obviously, truly sharing an interest would be the best circumstance, but even if you have to pretend a little bit, it will still work. That's not to say that you should go out of your way to find something you completely dislike and saying it's your favorite thing in the world. That could be and probably would be disastrous. No - at the very least, try to find a middle ground somewhere. Take full advantage of it._

_In this chapter, you will implement this shared interest and use it to help you start flirting. Yes, it's that time. After passing the test in the last chapter, you're good to go on the flirting field. Remember to always take it slow, however. Don't go out there with your sex drive kicking – it will only lead you into trouble. Take little risks with your flirting and you will actually get farther than you could by totally over-doing it. Your love interest will see that you're interested in them as more than just a sex-object._

Junior sat outside their motel room, leaning up against the wall. It was such a nice day out that he didn't want to stay cooped up inside. He idly twirled his book in his fingers, contemplating the new information he'd read.

"_Common interest…? Well… we're both obviously into racing…" _He leaned his head back against the wall, looking up at the clouds. Lynda and Strip had left a little earlier – Mater had come over excitedly talking about something he wanted them to see. Junior had politely declined, having wanted to read the next chapter of his book. It was rather nice – he now had some time to think everything over without any interruptions.

He let his eyes close as a warm breeze weaved its way through the tall cones surrounding him. It really was beautiful here…

"Thinking about someone, lover boy?"

Junior opened his eyes with a start to see Chick looking down at him. He gave a little sigh of relief and held his hand to his chest.

Chick just laughed at him. "Someone's a little jumpy… did you think I was someone else?" He walked a few steps closer and sat down next to him.

Junior just ran a hand through his hair. "What? Er, no, I don't know… I just…" He trailed off.

Chick just patted him on the shoulder. "It's ok. I know you've got your mind on other things…" He gave him a suggestive grin. "So anyway, uh… how'd it go with the old man last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"Anything happen? Did you do anything?"

"What? No! I mean… his _wife _was there, and uh… just… _no…_"

Chick playfully elbowed him in the side. "Aw, come ooon… you can't let little things like _that _get in your way. You've just gotta go after 'em with all you've got! Like me, for instance. I had an incredibly pleasurable night last night, and that's 'cuz I went for it!"

Junior gave a little smirk. "Yeah, well… I'm interested in a little more than just… sex…" This was a little bit embarrassing.

Chick leaned in a little closer. "Hey. Lightning and I? We didn't just have sex… we had _piping hot _sex! It was amazing, man!" His eyes got all starry as he stared off into space. "In fact, he wants to get together again later tonight. If that's not the start of something bigger, I don't know what is."

Junior looked down at his hands again, twirling his book. "But… but, I don't know… you know…?"

"Aw, young, innocent Junior… you haven't opened your eyes to the wonders of the world yet!" He wrapped his arms around the younger man's shoulders and clutched him to his chest.

"Ack!" Junior struggled to get free but to no avail. After a few suffocating minutes, he realized that Chick was stuck in la-la land, thinking about last night. "Hey, uh… Chick? I can't… I'm having trouble breathing…"

Chick snapped out of it and let Junior go, grabbing his shoulders instead. "Junior, I will tell you everything you need to know."

"…what?"

"Yes, just listen to my every word and everything will work out fine!" Chick popped to his feet and grabbed Junior's hand. "Come now, we must be off to find your true love!" And with that, he took off, dragging Junior behind him.

"_What in the world have I gotten myself into?"_

----------------------------

The two of them peeped around the corner of a building, watching Strip and Lynda walk along behind Mater. Mater was gesturing wildly and telling them about something, occasionally turning around to walk backwards. Junior noted that the sidewalk they were walking on would soon have them walking right by their little alcove.

"Alright… now… when you go out to talk to him, you've gotta be suave, charming… flirtatious…"

"What? I'm not going out there! What's he gonna think – me coming out of an alleyway like this? He's gonna think I've been spying on him!"

Chick continued to watch around the edge. "Well, you have been!"

Junior stood up straight, taken back. "But… but… but I didn't, I mean… I didn't think that… er, this… this was all your idea!" He whispered fiercely.

"Shhh!" Chick waved for him to be quiet, and Junior immediately shut his mouth. Chick then turned around to face Junior. "Hey, look at me."

Junior obediently did as he was told.

"Now… you like him, right?"

Junior nodded his head.

"You want him to like you?"

Junior nodded his head again.

"You want to get in his pants?"

Junior hesitated a bit as he felt a blush rise to his cheeks. He finally nodded his head.

"Then you've got nothing to worry about! Now, go out there and do your stuff!" Chick gave him a push, catching him off-guard. Junior went flying out from the alley before he could stop himself and felt himself plow into something soft, falling to the ground on top of it.

"Holy shoot!"

Junior rubbed his aching head and tried to push himself back up into a sitting position. He looked behind him to find a very surprised Mater.

"Ack! I'm sorry, I…" he began trying to dust off Mater's clothes. "I… I tripped, I'm so sorry!"

Mater just gave a little grin. "Well, that's ok, buddy. S'just an accident." He pushed himself to his feet and then reached down to help Junior up.

Junior felt exceedingly awkward and glanced back to see Strip and Lynda looking at him. Strip tipped his hat. "Afternoon, Junior!"

"A-afternoon, Strip." He glanced nervously down towards the ground and shifted his feet. He could have strangled Chick. "So, uh…"

"'Ey, Junior, wanna come to th'museum?" Mater exclaimed happily.

"Museum?"

Lynda nodded her head. "Mm! Mater was just going to go show us around the new Hudson Hornet Museum."

"Sure, I'd love to go." Hmmm… maybe this wouldn't turn out so bad after all. He might not have to plot _too_ horrible a death for Chick.

"Come on, come on, let's go then!" Mater could barely hold in his excitement and he began leading the group once more. Junior made his way back to walk next to Strip and his wife.

"So what have ya been doin' all day?" Strip asked.

"Not much… I was reading earlier. Was gonna try to catch a nap or something…" He glanced at the alley he'd come out of as he walked by and saw Chick staring out at him. Chick made some kind of gesture with his hand and then pointed to his rear. Junior wasn't quite sure he knew what the other meant until he then saw Chick point to Strip. Blushing furiously, he shook his head 'no'.

"Huh? What was that?" Strip had noticed his head movement.

"NOTHING! Nothing… ahaha… had a little, er, itch is all." Junior took the older man's arm and pushed him forward a bit more quickly until they were clear of the alley. "L-let's get going. I wanna see the museum."

---------------------------

Junior had a good time following Mater around the museum. It had been set up quite nicely, and Junior enjoyed seeing all the old racing artifacts, pictures and clippings. Though he hadn't been born when the great Hudson Hornet had won his famous races, he knew plenty about him from stories.

He also enjoyed watching Strip enjoy the museum, as the older man seemed to be walking on air. Every picture, every tiny piece of history seemed to set him alight with wonder. Junior couldn't help but feel himself melt inside as he watched Strip adoringly.

"The Hudson Hornet was _my _inspiration, you know? He's the reason I started racing!"

"Really?" Junior followed Strip into the next room. From behind him, he heard Mater talking to Lynda. "Hey, Mrs. The King, have ya ever seen a diff... diffeerrren-shal?"

Strip nodded his head and went to stand in front of a display of trophies. Junior looked down in awe at the three Piston cups sitting in the case. Above the case were pictures of various race tracks from back in the day.

Junior looked over to see Strip staring longingly at the pictures on the wall. There was a bit of wetness in his eyes.

"I… I miss it already… It was mah whole life, you know?" He bit his lip and glanced over to Junior. "I guess… I guess I just wanna know if I made a difference out there fer someone." A blush rose to his face and he looked sheepishly to the ground. "Now I just sound like a bumbling idiot, heh…"

Junior felt love well up inside him so strong that he swore he could have exploded. "Well, I… I…" He looked towards the ground as well, not able to look at the older man. "I know that you've inspired lots of people." He shifted his feet. "Every day that I race… I… I think about you and… and how much of an inspiration you've been to me…"

He rubbed his fingers together nervously to get the sweat off. Reaching out a little bit, he lightly touched the other's hand with his fingers. Taking a deep breath, he slipped his hand around Strip's, intertwining their fingers. He didn't move, didn't breathe.

With a tiny side-glance, he looked up at Strip and saw the other looking back at him. Both of them gave little embarrassed grins, Strip looking back down at the ground and Junior using his other hand to come up and scratch his nose. Strip idly rubbed the inside of his leg with his foot.

"Well, I'd say this is the most interesting room yet!"

Both men gave a little eep and instantly broke contact. Chick stood next to Junior, arms crossed and looking at the three Piston Cups.

"Certainly a lot of new things to see here, hm?" He slowly raised his head to look at the two men, a knowing smirk on his face.

Strip's face turned bright red and he started backing away. "I… uh… I, er, should… go check on Lynda…" He gestured towards the door before hurriedly backing out of it. He accidentally whacked his elbow on the doorframe as he left, and there was a quick "ow" as he brought his hand to it.

Junior watched him go and then turned angrily to Chick. "What was that all about! I was… I was doing so well!"

Chick put his finger to Junior's lips, shushing him. He glanced around furtively. "You were doing good, yeah… but now… now it's _perfect._"

Junior looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well… now he's going to look at it like… being with you is _dangerous._"

"Why would I want that?" Junior received another shush from Chick.

"Because that's good! You're becoming something of an adventure for him – someone who's exciting and dangerous. You're like… like a bad boy!"

"But… I'm not a bad boy at all…" Junior mused, glancing down at himself.

Chick used his finger to direct Junior's head back towards him. "To him you are! Look at him! Do you think he's ever done anything like this before? He's a total goody-goody. He's got the whole rest of his life set out to live at home with his wife all comfy and hunky-dory, but decidedly _safe._ Zero excitement. Boring."

Junior was starting to see where Chick was going. "Ohh… I think I see…"

"Exactly! Why else would he come onto you? I mean, besides finding you attractive and all."

Junior scratched his chin and looked towards the door.

"So you've just gotta lay low."

Junior smirked. "What happened to your plan of 'get out there and do it'?"

"Well… so I thought of a better plan, ok?"

Junior crossed his arms. "Fine, fine…" He pursed his lips in thoughts. "So… what do I do now?"

Chick grinned. "_Now…_ you just wait. Let him come to you."

----------------------------

That night, the residents of Radiator Springs were getting together to have a cookout. The Sheriff and Red had set up a fire pit a little ways out from the buildings and had gotten a steady fire going. Flo brought up a bunch of hot dogs, buns and s'more materials.

Junior walked over with Strip and Lynda. A bunch of people were there already, some cooking hot dogs and some just sitting on logs a ways back from the fire. Since coming from the museum, Strip hadn't said anything to Junior, but a few times now Junior had glanced over at the other man only to have him blush and quickly look away. Junior hoped that Chick knew what he was talking about.

Ahead of them, he saw the fire get closer and closer, it being the only thing giving off light in the desert twilight. The murmur of voices got louder as they approached.

"Hey, guys!" Sally gave them a little wave once they made their way into the firelight. She was roasting a hot dog over the fire.

"Glad you could join us." Fillmore leaned forward on his log to greet them. Sarge, who was sitting next to him, didn't say anything as he had his mouth full of hot dog.

Junior glanced around and was able to make out the figures of Flo, Ramone and the Sheriff in the firelight. There were a few other figures, but since they were back further from the fire, he couldn't make out who they were.

Strip and Lynda walked over to an empty log and sat down. Junior started to follow them, but remembered Chick's advice. He walked past where they'd sat and took a seat on a log further back, seeing Lightning sitting there. He glanced up and noticed Strip watching him.

He quickly turned to face Lightning, who looked at him with a big smile. "Heeey there! I haven't gotten to say anything to you yet!"

Junior gave him a little wave. "Hey."

"I feel so bad… the three of you came all the way down here and I've barely even seen you."

"It's no problem. It's really nice down here! I guess I can see why you like it so much."

Lightning grinned. "Yeah, it's really great down here. I've got to say, getting stuck down here changed my life."

"Mmhmm."

The two of them looked into the fire. It felt so warm in the slightly-chilled night air.

"So what have you all been doin'?"

Junior shrugged. "Not a whole lot, ahaha. Today we went to the museum – that was fun."

Lightning nodded. Your room's ok and everything?"

"Oh yeah, very nice! That's one of the cutest motels I've ever seen." He grinned.

"That's great. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself."

"Mm."

There was some more silence as they listened to the murmur of other voices around the fire. Memories of the night earlier floated into Junior's head and he couldn't help but grin to himself as he remembered Chick pushing Lightning up against the wall. This, however, led to thoughts of _him_ pushing _Strip_ up against the wall, which made him blush furiously.

There were footsteps nearby and he looked up to see Mater and Doc Hudson himself come walking into the firelight.

"Hey Doc. Hey Mater!" Flo called out to the two of them. There were a few other greetings shot out.

"Evening, everyone." Doc smiled and walked over to take a seat next to Sally. Mater jumped up and down excitedly, hurrying next to the fire.

"Hoh boy! Marshmallers!" He picked up a poker and began piling marshmallows onto it. Junior chuckled to himself as he watched. He was beginning to get a little bit hungry himself.

Standing up, he made his way over to where all the food had been set out and picked up his own poker, sticking a hot dog on the end. He walked over to Mater and sat down next to him, sticking his poker out into the fire.

"Are you gonna have any marshmallers?" Mater glanced over at him.

"Ahaha, maybe. I'll have to see how hungry I am."

Mater smiled and returned to watching his marshmallows start on fire. Junior looked behind him to see what Strip was doing. Both he and Lynda were having a conversation with Fillmore and Sarge. Strip looked so irresistibly cute in the firelight, smiling as someone said something rather humorous.

He couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He really, _really _hoped that Chick knew what he was doing. He could be sitting next to Strip right now, maybe leaning up against him a little… maybe resting his head on his shoulder…

"Hey Junior, your hot dog's on fire!"

He whipped around to find his hot dog a ball of flame. He pulled it out of the fire and began blowing it out furiously. When he finally got it out, Mater was laughing at him. His hot dog was now black as a piece of coal.

"Aw, maaaan." He frowned down at the black lump. "Well, that sucks."

Mater pulled his marshmallows out of the fire and blew them out. "You cook stuff jes' like me!" He laughed again.

"Well, I don't mean to." Junior gave Mater a grin and then stood up, walking back over to the food. He didn't really want to waste the hot dog, so he figured he might as well try it. He slapped it into a bun and put a lot of mustard on it, hoping to cover up the burnt taste. He made his way back to his log, sitting down next to Lightning again.

"Have trouble with your hot dog?"

Junior playfully punched Lightning in the shoulder. "Aww, shut up." He took a bite from his hot dog and gave a little shrug. It wasn't horrible.

Lightning brought his hand up near his face and pushed a button on his watch so that it lit up. "Oh, whoops. I should get goin'."

Junior idly munched on his hot dog. "Have somethin' going on tonight?"

Lightning grinned, embarrassed. "I'm, uh, meetin' someone."

Junior's eyes lit up. He knew ex_actly _where Lightning was going. He gave Lightning a little pat on the shoulder. "Well now, you have fun."

"Ahaha, thanks." He stood up and waved goodbye to everyone as he made his way away from the fire. "I'll see you guys later!"

Junior watched him leave and then bit into his hot dog again. He glanced over and watched as Strip waved to Lightning. The lonely feeling he'd gotten from over by the fire came back now. With Lightning gone, it was even worse. He stretched his feet out in front of him and stared at the ground. He could feel the warmth of the fire on his face.

He finished off his hot dog after not too long. The last couple bites had been the worst as that part of the hot dog had been the most burnt. He wiped his mouth off with his sleeve and gave a little yawn, scratching his neck. He slumped a bit on the log and looked out to see everyone talking amongst themselves. From this vantage, he could see Luigi and another younger-looking Italian man sitting a few logs away. He hadn't been able to see them when he'd first come in.

He wondered idly what Chick and Lightning were doing. Probably going at it already. He felt a tad bit jealous. How come Chick could nab someone like that so easily? Maybe if Junior had been a little bit more forward in the beginning… but no. It would work out, he just knew it. He hoped. He cracked his knuckles, deep in thought.

"Hey…"

He looked up to see Strip standing in front of him. He had his hands in his pockets and was idly rubbing one foot with the other. He looked embarrassed.

"Can… can I sit next to you?"

"Sure."

Strip sat down on the log, bringing his hands out of his pockets and resting his elbows on his knees. He awkwardly messed with his fingers.

"So, uh…" Strip's eyes were fixed on his hands. "So, uh… yeah…"

Junior felt a smile form on his face. Strip was so cute when he was uncomfortable.

"Yeah…?"

Strip adjusted his already-perfect hat. His hands were shaking. "I, uh… I, uh…" He trailed off again.

Junior felt a little sorry for him. He scooted himself a bit closer, resting his hand on the older man's knee. "Hey…"

Both of them looked up at each other. Junior gave him a little smile. Strip bit his lip and looked back down in embarrassment. He brought his hand up and tentatively touched Junior's hand. Junior, in turn, let his hand slip over the other's, holding it protectively.

Strip brought his other hand up and scratched at his forehead. "I'm… I'm sorry…"

Junior felt the other man's hand shake a bit under his. "For what?"

He gave a little, embarrassed laugh. "I-I don't know…"

Junior smiled and used his thumb to rub the other's hand in reassurance. "Hey… it's alright. Ok? It's alright…"

Strip nodded his head, still looking down at the ground. He kept tightening and loosening his hand. Junior moved his legs closer so that they leaned up against Strip's, feeling the warmth as they touched.

Strip finally looked up to Junior, his eyes searching his face, still asking for approval. Ever so slowly, he let his head fall down to rest on Junior's shoulder, his hat sliding off behind him. Junior felt him tense up a bit at first, as if scared that he would be rejected, but in a few seconds he felt Strip's body loosen up, leaning against him more for support. Gently, he let his own head come down to rest on Strip's, sighing softly. He nestled his cheek into the other's hair.

He continued to rub Strip's hand contentedly.


	6. Chapter 6

Whew… yay! I finished another chapter! Lol. This one was pretty fun to write. I'm not sure how many more I'm gonna have after this. I have ideas for at least one more chapter, but after that I'm not sure. So I guess we'll have to see. XD

A huuuuge thank you to all my reviewers! –huggles!- They make me feel all warm and fuzzzy!

Disclaimer: Same old, same old. Cars belongs to Pixar and Disney.

The Art of Seduction

By Basil-Ovelby

Chapter 6

_Chapter 6: The Final Test_

_By this time, you are hopefully well on your way to capturing the heart of your love interest. You should be noticing some very different behavior in your love interest, especially around you. Maybe by now you have even received some sort of confession. Either way, it's time to step it up a little bit in this final test. It's time for a date._

_Depending on how close you've gotten to your love interest, you can either call it a date, or just a casual outing. Or you can just not call it anything at all, it's up to you. But no matter which way you do it, this is where you're going to lay it on thick and heavy. Some of the best places for a date would be a restaurant, a movie, or if you are close to some kind of park, an evening stroll. Put your brilliant mind to work and decide what would be the best place for your date._

_Start out the night giving them plenty of space. As the night goes on, make sure that you gradually get closer to them in everything you do. An arm around the shoulder, a prolonged touch, increased flirting… you have to become casually seductive. By the end of the night, your love interest should definitely know that your interest in them is real and true. Remember, what happens after the date is directly related to what you put into the date, so give it your all…_

"And so… that's what happened." They were standing a short ways away from the main office of the Cozy Cone.

Chick just stared at Junior, his mouth hanging slightly open. Junior's proud smile began to droop as Chick didn't say anything.

"You didn't… didn't like… _kiss _him or anything? You didn't do _anything!_" Chick pulled on the other's collar and brought their faces together. "You had the perfect opportunity! What were you thinking!"

Junior didn't know what to say at first. "I… I… there were a lot of people there! How _could_ I have done anything?"

"People, people, people!" Chick let go of his collar and slapped his forehead. "Who _cares_ about the people? Let 'em see!"

Junior straightened his collar haughtily. "It's called… his _wife _was sitting just a few feet away."

Chick sighed. "Well… _fine…_ I guess." He stared at the ground, then tentatively glanced up. "You didn't even feel him up? A little?"

Junior glared at the older man.

"_Fine, _fine, fine…"

Junior leaned back on his heels with his hands in his back pockets, thinking. "So, well… what do you think?" He flashed Chick another quick glare. "And don't say what I think you're gonna say."

Chick waved off Junior's comment with a swipe of his hand. "Oh shush. Hmmm…" He brought his hand to his chin in concentration. "Well, I can't really make any assumptions yet, as I haven't seen the two of you 'together' yet… but obviously, you both now know of each other's feelings. You just need to expand on it!"

Junior nodded.

"And I would say… well speak of the devil! There's his royal highness right now!" Chick gestured behind Junior with his head, causing Junior to spin around.

Strip was walking on the side of the road, his hands in his pockets. Junior guessed he was heading back to the room as his path was angled inwards towards the cones. As he got closer, he glanced up towards the two of them, his face instantly reddening. He gave a little wave, his shoulders hunched up around his neck and a rather dorky smile on his face.

Junior waved back, smiling. Almost instantly, Strip stumbled over the curb, practically falling over. He righted himself, giving an embarrassed grin and rubbing the back of his neck.

Chick and Junior just stared. "Ho-ly shit, Junior. You have got yourself _one _love-sick puppy."

Junior awkwardly ran his hand through his hair. Strip had stopped walking and was now straightening his hat.

Chick gave Junior a little push in the other man's direction. "Go leash 'im up!"

Junior stumbled a bit. "Okay, _okay!_" He whispered fiercely behind him. He began walking towards the older driver, straightening his jacket and brushing his hair out of his eyes.

Strip was grinning at him in embarrassment as he walked up, shuffling his feet. "H-hey."

Junior scratched the tip of his nose. "Hi."

Strip readjusted his hat. "It's a… s'nice weather we're havin' today, huh?" He glanced up at the sky.

Junior followed his gaze. "Mmhmm. Real nice."

Strip gently chewed on his bottom lip, eyes now focused on Junior's shoes. He had his arms stretched behind his back and was nervously twisting his hands together. "Uhhh… yeah." He gave an awkward laugh.

"Do you wanna go to a movie with me tonight?"

Strip looked up, startled.

"A movie – I heard they're showing one at the drive-in tonight."

Strip's face, if it was at all possible, got even more red. "R-really? Hey, that'd be f… fun."

Junior wanted to jump the older man right then and there at his utter adorableness. It was almost like a dream come true – Strip getting all flustered… over _him!_ He hadn't even imagined Strip could get like this!

"Yeah… I figured… maybe we could talk… about stuff… too."

Strip shoved his hands in his pockets and looked shyly up at him. "Yeah…"

They stood there for a few minutes, neither one saying a thing. Strip looked down at the ground, every once in a while shifting his weight to the other foot. Junior stood with one hand behind his neck, idly swinging back and forth from his heels to his toes.

The awkward silence was killing him.

"Sooo… uh…" He clapped his hands, rubbing them together a few times. "I guess I'll… see you tonight!"

Strip gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah… tonight." He smiled up at him shyly.

Junior felt his own face begin to feel warm so he took a step back, grabbing his belt loops with his thumbs. "I should… I'm gonna get goin'." He gestured up towards the office where Chick was now sitting at one of the tables, watching the two of them intently. "Gotta… I'm, uh, talking to someone…"

Strip nodded. "Ok." He walked sideways a few steps and then turned around, looking at Junior until the last possible moment. He began to walk away, back towards the motel room. Every once in a while, he would glance back, and Junior would smile at him, making him blush and look forward again.

Junior gave a little sigh of happiness. He couldn't stop smiling, his grin almost hurting because it was so big. He wished it was night already.

----------------------------

"Sooo… what movie are we seeing anyway?" Strip glanced at him from the driver's seat as they made their way towards the edge of town.

Junior pursed his lips. "Actually… I'm not sure! I guess I didn't catch the title when I heard Luigi talking about it this morning."

Then again, Junior couldn't really think well right now, given the fact that he was now _on a date _with the love of his life. He turned his head to look at Strip as the other continued to drive. He almost couldn't believe it. That gorgeous man who sat next to him… the man that he had idolized and adored since before he'd ever started racing… actually liked him too. He felt the grin from earlier sneak back onto his face.

"Hey, uh, Junior?"

Junior snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah?"

"I, uh… I just… just wanna thank you… for this…" Strip idly rubbed his thumbs against the steering wheel.

Junior gave the other a soft smile and reached his hand over to give Strip's knee a little squeeze. "Hey… I should be the one thanking _you._"

Strip took his eyes off the road just long enough to give Junior a confused glance. "Why's that?"

Junior gave him a sly little grin. "For bein' so damn attractive."

Strip's face turned bright red, and his eyes went back to the road. Junior couldn't help but give a little laugh. There was just something he loved about seeing the older man get all flustered.

"Hey, we're here." Strip was quickly changing the subject. Junior looked ahead of him to the drive-in theater and noticed a rather large line leading into it.

"Awww, man! Look at that line!" Junior scratched his head.

"Geez, I didn't think it would be that full." Strip pulled the car up behind the last car in line. "Is this a really popular movie or somethin'?"

Junior shook his head. "I have no idea…" He stuck his head out the window and tried to see ahead at how long their wait would be. "Looks like it's going at a pretty steady pace… shouldn't take too long."

Strip nodded as he pulled the car forward with the line.

Junior looked back over to Strip, and the two's eyes met. Both of them gave little grins, embarrassed. All Junior knew was that he wanted tonight to be perfect. He didn't want his first date with Strip to be anything but magical.

They pulled forward another few spaces in line. The ticket counter wasn't too much further. Junior wondered who all was here – it seemed like everyone in town! Maybe this was some kind of really popular movie… he wasn't sure. Luigi had sure been talking it up…

They reached the ticket counter and the Sheriff looked out at them.

"Oh hey, Sheriff. Didn't know you ran this thing." Strip leaned his arm out the window.

The Sheriff gave a little laugh. "I'm just takin' over for a little bit. I don't do this all the time." He leaned out a little bit to see into the car. "Two tickets?"

"Mm." Strip nodded.

"That'll be $5."

Strip started to reach for his wallet, but Junior stopped his hand. "Hey, hey… I'll pay, ok?"

Strip scratched under his nose and smiled at him shyly. "Well… ok, I guess."

Junior pulled out his own wallet and flipped it open. There were three bills inside… all of them one's. _"Crap!"_ He looked at the three bills again, thinking maybe he'd just read one wrong. But no… he only had three dollars. He glanced nervously up at Strip who was looking at him inquisitively.

"Ahahah… er…" Junior forced a little laugh. "Well, you see…"

Strip's expression turned to one of amusement. "You don't have enough?" He smiled at him teasingly.

"Well, I… I-I thought I did! Really!" He pointed to his wallet as if to prove his point. "But… But now I… er…"

Strip chuckled. "That's fine. I'll pay." He took out his wallet.

"Wait! Wait!" Junior quickly took the bills out of his own wallet and shoved them into Strip's hand. "At least take these… ok?"

Strip smiled at him, a hint of laughter still evident in his expression. "Ok."

Junior slumped back into his seat as Strip gave the money to the Sheriff, thinking about how much of an idiot he was. He could have hit himself in the face.

They drove forward into the theater, and Strip looked around for a place to park. There were barely any spots left. "Hey, there's a spot." He pointed towards one not too far away.

"That's in, like… the last row!"

Strip looked around again. "Well… the only other spots _are _in the last row."

Junior sighed. "Ok… might as well take that one then." They drove past the other cars in the row and parked in the spot. Strip turned off the car and took the keys out of the ignition, unbuckling his seat belt. Junior did the same.

They both sat there in silence. Junior couldn't help but feel a little awkward. He glanced over at Strip who was just staring at the steering wheel. He decided to wait a little bit and let himself lean back into his seat, hands crossed against his stomach.

He watched two other cars pull in behind them. He guessed the movie would start in just a few minutes – they hadn't expected it to be this busy, so they hadn't left all that early. He tried to see who was in the car next to them, but their windows were tinted. He could only see the faint outline of a person.

He looked back in front of him towards the movie screen. He could only see half of it over the cars in front of them. He frowned a little bit, mad that they'd gotten such bad spots. Oh well… actually watching the movie wasn't that important to the date anyway.

The lights surrounding the theater abruptly turned off and there were a few surprised noises from across the sea of cars. The movie was about to start.

Junior looked back over to Strip, who was still staring at the wheel. He didn't know quite what to do. This was entirely more awkward than he thought it would be. He inched himself a bit closer to the other man. Luckily, it was one of those vehicles that had one large front seat.

He looked to see if Strip had noticed, but the older man hadn't. Junior wondered why he'd thought the other man's observation skills would be any better now than earlier. He felt a smile form on his face.

Discreetly, he brought his arm up to rest on the back of the seat. He then turned his head and gave a short cough. Strip turned at the sound, looking over at him. Junior pretended to be looking at something outside of the car, bringing his other hand up to brush through his hair.

Luckily, Strip wasn't quite _that _dense, and he recognized the invitation that had been given to him. He scooted closer to the other man and began to lean back when he felt an uncomfortable, metal object jab into his rear end.

"Ow!" He jerked away, rubbing the sore spot. Junior looked to him worriedly, questioning the older man's exclamation. "I sat on the seat belt buckle…"

Both men looked down at the innocent, metal buckle that sat nestled between the two seat cushions.

"Uhhh…" Junior was thinking. "Here, maybe if you…" He returned his arm to the back of the seat and pushed the seat buckle over a little. "Just try…"

Strip began to move back into his place. "Ack!" He reached under his rear to try pushing the buckle away. "I can still feel it."

Junior reached down and tried pushing the buckle under the seat cushion. "Maybe… er…" The buckle only went halfway in. "Try just… uh, leaning over."

Strip sat on the other side of the buckle and leaned his shoulders across, consequently sliding down into the other's lap. "Oh!"

Junior blushed as Strip sat up in embarrassment. "This isn't working…" He mentally cursed. He glanced around quickly and then had a new thought. He scooted over the other way a few inches. "Here, just come down here further."

Strip scooted himself over once more, passing hesitantly over the buckle. Junior brought his arm up yet _again, _and Strip leaned back into it. Junior gave a little sigh of relief – they were _finally _settled, although now he couldn't help but feel a little awkward. That whole fiasco had pretty much ruined the mood.

He glanced down at Strip who was now smiling contentedly, gazing out at the screen. Aw well, if Strip was fine, then he was fine. He let himself relax into the seat, letting out the tension in his muscles. Strip reached up to take off his hat, setting it on the seat next to him. With it gone, he could nestle his head into Junior's shoulder.

Junior looked out at the movie screen and saw that words had already begun to flow on the screen. **_Giulietta degli spiriti. _**A small subtitle below it read "Juliet of the Spirits." What the heck? This movie wasn't even in English?

He kept watching as the movie started, none of the actors speaking any English. He could only read half of the subtitles underneath as much of them were hidden by cars in front of them. Ok, so _this _definitely wasn't going to be that fun.

He gave a little yawn. On the screen, a lady was smoking and saying something. All Junior could make out was "a ----------by the-------house." He rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

Forty-five minutes into the movie found Junior almost asleep. He felt his eyes start to close and quickly shot them back up, trying to stay awake. He looked out at the screen. Some people were moving around, but he was so out of it that he couldn't tell anything else. He turned his gaze to Strip and found the other man completely gone, snoring softly on his shoulder.

Well, this was going well.

He furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and tried to pay attention to the movie once again, but to no avail. In just a few minutes, his eyes began closing once again, and this time, he didn't try to stop them.

-----------------------

He woke up to the sound of rain hitting the roof of the car. At first, he couldn't remember where he was. He glanced around and saw Strip cuddled against him, suddenly remembering what had happened.

He gave a little groan. Oh, this had been a _real _fun date. He gazed out the window to find the theater empty. Looking towards the entrance, however, he saw a few cars waiting in line to exit. Well good, at least _something _had gone right. They hadn't slept until morning.

He looked back over to Strip, who was sleeping contentedly. He really didn't want to wake the older man, but how else were they going to get back to the motel? Ever so gently, he brushed a few locks of hair out of other's eyes.

"Hey… wake up, sleepy-head…"

He saw Strip's eyes flutter open. "Hm?"

"Hey, you gotta wake up. The movie's over…"

Strip scrunched his eyes, bringing his hand up to scratch his nose. He gave a yawn. "I only closed my eyes for a second…"

Junior chuckled. "Sure Strip… only a second."

Strip pushed himself to a sitting position and stretched his arms out in front of him. He glanced around drearily. "Are we… going back then?"

Junior gave the other's back a little rub. "Yeah… hey, you want me to drive? You look pretty bushed."

Strip stared at him for a few seconds as if he hadn't understood him. "… sure." He nodded his head, almost falling back over from the movement.

Junior sat himself up. "Ok… here, climb over me to the other side. I've gotta get to the wheel…"

Strip crawled over until he was situated in the other seat. Junior rubbed the last of the dreariness from his eyes and righted himself in the driver's seat, buckling his seat belt. Picking up the key from the dashboard, he stuck it in the ignition and started up the car. He glanced over at Strip who was gazing sleepily out the windshield.

Easing on the gas, Junior led the car towards the exit. By now, none of the cars were left, and he was able to drive right out. He had the windshield wipers going on full as the rain was beginning to come down pretty hard now. How much gloomier could you get?

They pulled out onto the main street and began heading back into town.

Strip yawned again from the other seat. "So… what was that movie about again?"

Junior grinned. "You know… I really have no idea."

"Well, that's good."

They were silent for a few minutes. The only thing they could hear was the rain coming down on the car.

"At least now I know why Luigi was so excited about it." Junior glanced over at Strip, who nodded in agreement. He was starting to wake up more.

"Can't beat those old Italian movies."

Both of them looked at each other, grinning.

After a few more minutes, Junior saw the shape of orange, safety cones in front of them. He pulled into the parking lot of the Cozy Cone and parked in one of the open spots. With a click, he turned the key in the ignition and pulled it out, listening to the car power down around them.

"Well… we're here."

They both gazed out at the falling rain. Strip picked up his hat and stuck it back on his head.

"Sorry for takin' you on such a crappy date." Junior frowned, scratching his forehead.

Strip looked at him inquisitively. "What'er you talkin' about?

Junior looked over to the older man. "_Every_thing went wrong! It was horrible!" He gave the steering wheel a little punch to accentuate his words. He slouched down in his seat, chin burrowed into his shirt.

There was a minute of silence.

Strip idly played with his fingers. "Well, I… I really enjoyed it. Even if I did go t'sleep…" He forced himself to look up at the younger man, the other looking back at him with hopeful eyes. "I… I thought it was perfect."

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Strip began blushing furiously, turning away. Junior just looked at him, soaking in the words. Finally, he crawled across the seat to the older man, the movement causing him to look up.

"Hey, you."

Strip gave him a shy smile. "Hey…"

And with that, Junior closed the distance between them with a light kiss. His eyes fluttered shut for a second as he took in the feeling of the other man's lips on his own. Pulling away, he looked up to see Strip's eyes still closed.

He smiled, watching the older man finally open his eyes. They both looked at each other, not saying anything. Strip gave a tiny chuckle, biting his lower lip.

Junior reached out and rested his hand on the other's knee, smiling softly. "_Now…_ it's perfect."


End file.
